Active labor: Your cervix begins to dilate more rapidly, and contractions are longer, stronger, and closer together. People often refer to the last part of active labor as transition.

The second stage of labor begins when you're fully dilated and ends with the birth of your baby. This is sometimes referred to as the "pushing" stage.

The third stage begins right after the birth of your baby and ends with the delivery of the placenta.

Every pregnancy is different, and there's wide variation in the length of labor. For first-time moms, labor often takes between ten and 20 hours. For some women, though, it lasts much longer, while for others it's over much sooner. Labor generally progresses more quickly for women who've already given birth vaginally.

First stage: Early labor

Once your contractions are coming at relatively regular intervals and your cervix begins to progressively dilate and efface, you're officially in labor. But unless your labor starts suddenly and you go from no contractions to fairly frequent and regular contractions right away, it can be tricky to determine exactly when true labor starts. That's because early labor contractions are sometimes hard to distinguish from the inefficient Braxton Hicks contractions that may come right before, contributing to so-called false labor.

(By the way, if you're not yet at 37 weeks and you're noticing contractions or other signs of labor, don't wait to see if your contractions progress. Call your caregiver immediately so to determine whether you're in preterm labor. If you're at least 37 weeks pregnant, your caregiver has likely given you instructions on how to track your contractions and when to call.)

Assuming your pregnancy is full-term, though, time will tell: If you're in early labor, your contractions will gradually become longer, stronger, and closer together. Eventually they'll be coming every five minutes and lasting 40 to 60 seconds each as you reach the end of early labor. Some women have much more frequent contractions during this phase, but the contractions will still tend to be relatively mild and last no more than a minute.

Sometimes early labor contractions are quite painful, even though they may be dilating your cervix much more slowly than you'd like. If your labor is typical, however, your early contractions won't require the same attention that later ones will.

You'll probably be able to talk through them and putter around the house. You may even feel like taking a short walk. If you feel like relaxing instead, take a warm bath, watch a video, or doze off between contractions if you can.

You may also notice an increase in mucusy vaginal discharge, which may be tinged with blood – the so-called bloody show. This is perfectly normal, but if you see more than a tinge of blood, be sure to call your caregiver. Also call if your water breaks, even if you're not having contractions yet.

Early labor ends when your cervix is about 4 centimeters dilated and your progress starts to accelerate.

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